Foolproof Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

I was so thrilled with the way these biscuits turned out I wanted to shout it from the rooftops you guys!

I feel like I’ve been trying to conquer the world of flaky biscuits since this blog’s inception. I’ve had a few good results here and there, but I’ve been on the quest for a good, simple, roll and cut buttermilk biscuit recipe since the day I started calling myself a baker. It may have taken 5+ years, but finally, I have one!

Can we just talk about how much these biscuits rose? Nothing that’s come out of my oven has ever looked like that. You can immediately see the flaky layers stacked on top of one another. I may have peeked into the oven repeatedly as these baked – ok fine, I do that every.single.time I bake something 🙂 – and done a little happy dance when I discovered these weren’t going to be the short, dense biscuits this New England girl usually specializes in making.

It turns out the trick to flaky biscuits is borrowing a technique used to make puff pastry. When preparing the dough for puff pastry, you roll and fold the dough repeatedly creating super thin alternating layers of butter and flour. The heat of the oven melts the butter and results in steam pockets, making the pastry flaky. You do essentially the same thing here – rolling the biscuit dough into a rectangle and folding it into thirds like a business later. My dough was a tiny bit crumbly but otherwise not difficult to work with and the whole process didn’t take long at all so if my description is making it sound complicated, rest assured, it’s not!

There’s even more good news about this recipe; it’s from Cooking Light so these biscuits aren’t as super indulgent as you might expect. Relatively speaking (I mean, they are still biscuits), there’s not a ton of butter in the dough. There’s also no refined sugar, honey is used instead. The biscuits are only slightly sweet, in that floral way you only get when honey is used. Yes, the recipe does instruct you to cut the biscuits a little smaller than you typically would, but I found one was plenty for me. Plus, the little biscuits make the cutest breakfast sandwiches! Obviously you could make them any size or shape you want though, so go crazy 🙂

I think a basket of flaky buttermilk biscuits would be the perfect addition to your Easter meal on Sunday, or to any meal for that matter! I hope you try them, especially if you’ve had trouble with biscuits in the past. They’re foolproof!

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter cubes, and use a pastry cutter (or your fingertips, if you’d rather) to cut in the butter until the pieces are no bigger than peas – the mixture should resemble coarse meal. Stick the bowl in your refrigerator to chill for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the buttermilk and honey in a measuring cup. Add to the bowl with the butter/flour mixture and stir gently just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently about 3-4 times to bring it together. The dough may still be a little crumbly, that’s fine. Roll the dough into a 9×5-inch rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. Fold the dough into thirds like a business letter (using the long sides of the rectangle). Once again, roll the dough into a 9×5-inch rectangle about 1/2-inch thick, and again fold it into thirds like a letter. Roll the dough out to 3/4-inch thickness (the shape doesn’t really matter). Using a 1 3/4-inch round cutter, cut biscuits from the dough (don’t twist the cutter, use a straight up and straight down motion) and transfer to the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch of space between them. (I gathered the scraps and cut more biscuits once or twice to get as many as possible.)

Bake for about 11-12 minutes, or until the biscuits have risen and are golden brown on top. Remove the baking sheet and transfer the biscuits to a wire rack. Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve warm. Or, if you won’t be serving immediately, pop them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds when you are ready.

Makes 12-14 biscuits

57 Responses to "Foolproof Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits"

wow! these are mile-high biscuits and you can definitely see the layers!! i can see why the technique of puff pastries being adapted into these biscuits is the way to go! i think i have to make these soon!!

I’m having trouble picturing the folding…so you fold it like a letter the first time. Then when you roll it out a second time, do you kind of keep the rectangle you just made and fold it again like a letter? So you’re folding it one way and then the other (what was once the long side is now the short side)? Does that even make sense? 😉 I want to make these for Sunday!

@Liz K: I thought about taking process pictures before I made the recipe, then completely forgot! Next time I make these I’ll have to 🙂 In the meantime, I *think* this post I did on croissants a while back might help (as it relates to the rolling/folding):

Thanks for the link to the croissants. The pictures there make me think I’m wrong, though–and you DO want to keep all the folding in the same direction. So the 9×5 rectangle gets folded and the long side becomes the short side (now the rectangle is about 3×5), but then you roll it out so the 3 inch side becomes 9 inches again. Then all the folds create the layers that you want. I think! Ha ha, I’m sitting here folding paper.

I really wish I knew what I did wrong – I followed the directions to the letter and I ended up with flat biscuits! They taste fine but they’re flat and dense and not flaky at all 🙁 I’m so sad! I never bake anything and this is why.. lol!!

@Melina – I’m sorry you had trouble with the recipe. I wish I could tell you what went wrong, but it’s so hard not having been in the kitchen with you.

@Anonymous – The original recipe was written using a weight calculation for the flour, which is 9 oz. To be clear, that’s 9 oz of flour by weight measured using a scale, not a volume measurement. If you don’t have a scale, they also provided a volume conversion, which is where the 2 cups comes in. It’s going to be more accurate to do it by weight, so if that’s an option, I’d go that route. Does that clear things up?

@Wendy – I just did the best I could to gently reassemble the scraps enough that I could cut additional biscuits. I tried to handle it as little as possible, but there wasn’t a real method that I used. The ones I made from the scraps were ever so slightly less tall than the ones cut from the first batch so try to cut as many as possible on the first go-round 🙂

Has anyone tried to make these ahead of time and freeze the biscuits after they are cut out? They sound great and it would be wonderful to make a big batch, freeze them and have them ready at a moment’s notice.

These are the best biscuits I have ever made! I almost gave up on making them because of so many recipes being dense and almost inedible but these were perfect. I didn’t have buttermilk and didn’t want to go to the length of making it so I just used plain milk and still these were amazing! Thanks so much for this recipe, it’s a keeper.

Made biscuits this morning using my recipe. I’m an Appalachian girl and have used my recipe for years… Anyway, I thought your technique for rolling them out made a lot of sense and gave it a try. Oh My Goodness!!! My biscuits are great, but they took an entirely different texture and rose more than my old technique! My husband and I decided the ‘folding and rolling’ added a new dimension that’s worth repeating.Just goes to prove, we’re never too old to learn! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for this great page. I was looking for something different when I came across your page. I have used this recipe for years and I in the process of making them right now. Already started getting ingredients together and the oven is on. I just came back to mention that it would be a great idea for your posts to be dated by the last posting date instead of the first posting date. I was looking for comments from people who actually tried this recipe, but had to read through all the ooohs and aawwwws to see them. Many new bakers need actual info to get them to use your recipe. Thanks again for having your site. Bon Appetite! Lee

Your biscuit did not turn out because your baking powder is over 6 months old. As a food scientist, I have tested the rising ability of dough and pastry many times. If your baking powder extends the 6 month shelf-life, it is no longer active. Get a new can of baking powder and try again. You will achieve better results.

I seriously can never do biscuits right. Mine always ALWAYS end up being flat and rich, never tall and airy! Sucks so bad, but I use a cup…I don’t have a biscuit cutter yet (it’s on my wedding registry!) Boo. Otherwise, delicious. My first time really making true homemade biscuits.

My mom is from the south. She made wonderful biscuits. Amazingly, my dad mad amazingly wonderful biscuits. It always amused me that my dad had only a few really good recipes and his biscuits beat moms.

He unfortunately took his recipe and techniques with him. I am going to steal this recipe from you because these look like his. You can’t find too many good biscuits in the world but these look like they are worth keeping stocked as a staple. Good post. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!!

I wrap them in parchment & foil then a zip lock bag, prior to freezing these biscuits, which are called Scones (pronounced “Scons”) in Australia. When needed, remove the amount you need from the plastic bag, then place them in a 180-200 degree oven for about 10 minutes to thaw then heat through in a parchment/foil package. They will be exactly the same as freshly baked.

By using the folding & rolling technique as detailed by Tracey, as well as ensuring the freshness of the baking powder, will almost certainly guarantee successful rising & baking as it is the same method used for rough puff & puff & flaky pastry.

To Zahra, who used fresh milk instead of Buttermilk, your results should be fine, just not quite as tasty as using Buttermilk. Enjoy! Thanks Tracey. Dianne.